tsubasa misudachi

“When you see someone in trouble in front of you, you act before you think. That’s how you’ve always been since you were a child, and I’ve always been proud of you because of that. But right now, you need to think hard. What is it that you can do?”

In the first season of Gatchaman Crowds, Hajime Ichinose had her collages.

Not only were they a cute hobby that tied Hajime to some influential Tachikawa locals, but they acted as a metaphor – albeit a heavy-handed one – for the way Hajime herself acts. Repeatedly in the first season, she would express how wonderful it was when everyone “came together,” combining their respective talents into something different, exciting, or meaningful, much like a collage. Hajime was always slow and dawdling, sometimes to a fault, but her personality also brought other large personalities together, creating something entirely new.

It’s only fitting that Gatchaman Crowds insight‘s finale allowed its new heroine, Tsubasa Misudachi, to show off her own creative talents in the form of a fireworks show. Fireworks are an easy shortcut to Tsubasa’s personality – emotionally-charged, quick to anger, and fiercely passionate – as she’s naturally intense but also acts before she thinks. Unlike a collage, fireworks immediately impress and often inspire an emotional response; however, they’re also fleeting. For Tsubasa, fireworks are also the tradition of her family that she carries with pride.

Trade offs occur frequently in everyday life – more often than not when money or resources are concerned. In a business sense, trading off usually weighs a more immediate solution against a long-term one, leaving the company or individual to calculated the benefits and risks involved before making a decision.

Regardless of the end result, trading off requires a choice. Something must be given, and with every decision something is lost.

Previously, Gatchaman Crowds insight covered outbound marketing through the arrival of the Kuu. To review, they were a product that was automatically shipped and delivered to Gel Sadra’s constituents – without his own knowledge – and their intoxicating auras along with their happy personalities immediately ingratiated them to the Japanese people. Like more traditional examples of outbound marketing like junk mail and cold calls, the Kuu necessitate an action. The general populace must choose to opt out in order to rid themselves of this particularly virulent strain.

Unfortunately, this also requires standing up to the prevailing atmosphere, something that the Kuu actively make difficult.